In 2018, however, that hasn't been the case. The price of bitcoin has nearly halved this year, and Barclays sees it as unlikely to ever top its all-time high of $19,843, set in December.

"Unlike past peaks in Bitcoin prices, the survey evidence, based on our modeling, suggests that the speculative bubble in crypto currencies may have passed its peak," the bank said as part of its annual Equity Gilt report this week.

Here's where the bank's model predicts bitcoin's price will go from here:

Barclays

The prediction comes as part of a larger comparison between the cryptocurrency craze of the past year and epidemiological models.

"Applying this model to speculative behaviour in crypto currencies, it suggests that once a large enough share of the population susceptible to speculation becomes aware of and holders of crypto currencies, upward pressure on prices stalls," the team writes. "To the extent that holders' attraction to Bitcoin was speculative — as our empirical analysis of historical prices suggests — those holders then become sellers, initiating an accelerating downward spiral."